The Geelong Football Club is preparing to crown this year's Carji Greeves Medallist on Thursday night, presented to the Cats Best and Fairest player from the 2024 season. 

Geelong first presented an official Best and Fairest award in 1897, naming the Medal in honour of the great Edward 'Carji' Greeves in 1962. 

Across the Club's history a number of Cats champions have claimed the award, with 27 players winning Geelong's Best and Fairest on multiple occasions. 

Take a look back across the history of the Carji Greeves Medal, as the Cats prepare to crown another champion on Thursday night. 

The All-Time Medal Leaders

Across the entire history of Geelong’s Best and Fairest award dating back to 1897, two players sit on top of the leaderboard with four wins across their careers in the Hoops.

The first is Dick Grigg, a brilliant utility who played 194 games for Geelong between 1904 and 1914, while also making a brief comeback in the 1921 season.

A member of Geelong’s Hall of Fame and the Team of the Century, Grigg won three consecutive Best and Fairest awards between 1910 and 1912, before winning a fourth in 1914.

Garry Hocking is the only other four-time winner of Geelong’s Best and Fairest award, taking out the Carji Greeves Medal in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1996.

Across 274 games with the Cats, ‘Buddha’ made four All-Australian teams and captained Geelong twice, while also being inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

Patrick Dangerfield is the only active player who can join this list on Thursday night, currently sitting on three Carji Greeves Medals (2016, 2017, 2019).

The Inaugural Winner

The first official winner of Geelong’s Best and Fairest award was Joe McShane back in 1897, noted as the first time a player was publicly honoured for an outstanding season.

McShane was the first Geelong player to play 200 games for the Club, eventually finishing on 210 games with the Cats between 1887 and 1901.

The Carji Greeves Medal was first created and awarded in 1962, presented to Alistair Lord for his impressive season which also saw him win the Brownlow Medal.

The Most Recent Results

Tom Stewart took out the Carji Greeves Medal for the second time in three years, claiming the 2023 Best and Fairest Award and finishing 30 votes clear on top of the leaderboard.

The star defender became the 27^th player to win Geelong’s Best and Fairest award multiple times, adding to his triumph in the 2021 Carji Greeves Medal.

Tom Atkins was recognised for his strong 2023 campaign finishing in second place on 105 votes, just ahead of Gryan Miers in third (93 votes) and Zach Guthrie in fourth (87 votes).

The Current List’s Success

There are six players on the current list that have previously won a Carji Greeves Medal, including four different players who have taken out the top award on multiple occasions.

Leading the charge is Geelong’s captain, Patrick Dangerfield who has three Best and Fairest awards to his name including 2016, 2017 and 2019.

Tom Stewart (2021, 2023), Mark Blicavs (2015, 2018) and Cameron Guthrie (2020, 2022) have all won the award twice, while retiring champion Tom Hawkins (2012) and Jeremy Cameron (2022) have both claimed one Carji Greeves Medal.

The Triple Crowned Champions

Along with the two players who have won Geelong’s Best and Fairest four times, the Cats also have six players who have claimed the award on three occasions across the Club’s history.

The first player was George Todd (1927, 1930, 1931), a brilliant full back who became a two time premiership player and three time Best and Fairest winner across 232 games with the Cats.

Ian Nankervis (1972, 1976, 1977) was the next Geelong champion to win three Carji Greeves Medals, adding to his incredible resume which included an All-Australian selection and an Australian Football Hall of Fame induction, while playing 325 games in the Hoops.

David Clarke (1971, 1978, 1979) and Paul Couch (1986, 1989, 1995) added three Best and Fairest awards to their long list of accolades, while more recently Joel Selwood (2010, 2013, 2014) and Patrick Dangerfield (2016, 2017, 2019) joined the three time winners list.

The Multiple Carji Greeves Medal Winners

There are 27 players in the Club’s history that have won multiple Best and Fairest awards, dating back to Henry Young who was the first to achieve the feat in 1905 and 1906.

The list of multiple winners includes Cats champions across different eras, such as Reg Hickey (1928, 1934), Graham “Polly” Farmer (1963, 1964) and Gary Ablett Junior (2007, 2009).

Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins are the two current Geelong players who can potentially join this list in 2024.

The Retiring Great’s Triumph

Thursday night will also be a chance to celebrate retiring champions, Tom Hawkins and Zach Tuohy as they step away from football at the end of 2024.

Hawkins is a previous Carji Greeves Medal winner, taking out the award in 2012 while also finishing runner-up in 2014 and 2020.

The incredible 2012 season for Hawkins saw him finish runner-up in the Coleman Medal with 62 goals, while also ranking first in the competition for marks inside 50, and second for contested marks.